In a dramatic gathering, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisrael convened Thursday evening at the vacation home of the Vizhnitzer Rebbe in Moshav Ora, where he has been staying since returning from medical treatment abroad.
The emergency session came amid a deepening political crisis and calls for new elections, with the Chassidic leadership debating how to respond to what they described as ongoing persecution of the Torah-observant community.
This was the first such meeting of the Chassidishe Moetzes since 5783, and its very occurrence signaled the urgency of the moment.
In attendance were the Rebbes of Gur, Vizhnitz, Boyan, Seret-Vizhnitz, Biala (making his first appearance since the passing of his father), and Modzitz. Absent were the Rebbes of Belz, Slonim, Sanz, and Vizhnitz-Merkaz.
The meeting opened with briefings from key political figures representing Agudas Yisrael in the current coalition, including Ministers Yitzchok Goldknopf and Meir Porush, Deputy Minister Yaakov Tessler, and MK Yisroel Eichler, Chairman of the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee.
Addressing the Moetzes, Minister Goldknopf declared, “There has never been a situation like this for the chareidi public.”
Deputy Minister Tessler added, “The list of sanctions that has been publicized applies only to the chareidim. We haven’t heard of such sanctions being applied to draft evaders in the general population. In fact, already now, thousands of chareidi women are being impacted by the daycare funding cuts.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, the secretary, Rav Yaakov Waltzer, read aloud the official resolution: “It is forbidden to sit in a government that persecutes Torah learners.”
While Agudas Yisrael will not submit its own bill to dissolve the Knesset, the party announced that it will throw its support behind one of the opposition’s proposed dissolution bills, scheduled for a vote this coming Wednesday.
{Matzav.com Israel}